Life and Thoughts and Such.

Month: December 2015

*WARNING! THIS POST CONTAINS SPOILERS! IT IS MY HONEST OPINION, THEREFORE I WILL HAVE TO COVER ALOT OF IMPORTANT THINGS THAT HAPPEN. EVEN IF YOU THINK YOU WANT TO KNOW, YOU CANNOT KEEP READING IF YOU HAVEN’T SEEN THE MOVIE*

There. Now because you’re here, i trust that you’ve seen the movie. If you haven’t, don’t cheat yourself.

Now, i put the poster cover in because i’d like to go over each of the characters a bit.

Kylo Ren – He’s an interesting character i’m not sure how to feel about yet. I feel like there was a lot of character development that could have happened in between VI and VII that they could have done so much with…but it is really only fun to write about a galaxy in turmoil, lets be real. He portrays the sinister of Anakin far more than he does that of Darth Vader (who, btw, i recognized when you saw him. At first i thought it was Gollum; thanks Andy Serkis XD)

Rey – I think its interesting that they chose to have a female main character. Not “better” or “finally time”, just interesting. 🙂
I know she’s connected to the original characters somehow (c’mon the girl even LOOKS like Leia and Padm’e) I’m just not sure how yet. The girl can cry at a drop of a hat, which is interesting for Star Wars because Padm’e and Leia don’t cry very much. She’s cool tho; i’m a fan 🙂
However, I am seeing alot of “Harry Potter”-esque use of the force. No training, barely any knowledge that it was real, yet she can use it, WELL. That type of thing takes time and training from when you’re tiny before you’re even calm enough to move things, much less manipulate minds. (see Luke’s training with Yoda in Episode V) I get how this wouldn’t have worked but it would have been more realistic if she had undone the restraints herself with the force, similarly to how Luke reached for his lightsaber in the wampa cave in Episode V, rather than getting in the guard’s head. Minor artistic differences but i feel like that’s promoting the agenda “everyone can use the force!! No time, no training, no -whatever. Its a magical switch to win battles just because you really want to! And you can control it with no idea what you’re dealing with!” Just dangerous ground to be treading on, Abrams. Hope you can keep that in check. Because “that’s not how the Force works!”

Small Alien Creature Who’s Name Escapes Me – I know it begins with an ‘m’. She was interesting, and seems to know alot more than she’s letting on. I kinda want to know why Luke didn’t have a cataclysmic flashback when he touched the lightsaber, and that story of how she could have possibly pried it off Luke’s dead cold hand must be a doozy. XD

R2-D2 and C-3P0 – I will admit to crying when BB-8 pulled the tarp off R2. He was the only character besides C-3P0 that made it all the way thru all six previous movies. I kinda wish they had done more with them…it was a nice touch that they came with Rey and Chewie at the end but it was kinda like “biggest star wars celebrities! We’ll just kinda throw them in there so the fans don’t revolt…” and that was it. But, yeah. 🙂 Lots and lots of rip-offs from IV, which is what JJ Abrams does, really…Not that there’s anything wrong with that, i mean, jeez, all of Star Wars is pretty much just a Buck Rogers/Flash Gordon rip-off… it was still a good movie, but there was so much that could have been done that wasn’t so “secret plans”-esque.

Po, The Pilot – I’m hoping to see more about him…he seems to just be your basic pilot with nothing much else to do unless you need, well…a pilot, but he’s a determined, positive character and i appreciate him. As long as they work on him more later, cuz he’s a little static right now.

Captain Phasma and the Storm Troopers – So they’re still recruiting from over the galaxy and not using clones, i appreciate that. Salute to the old days. It’s kinda interesting, cuz it’s like they combined Jedi and storm troopers, because if memory serves, there used to be an Imperial Academy that Luke wanted to join at the beginning of Episode IV (i don’t remember if this is the movie or the book talking; because i’ve been thru the original book) and that would be weird if it was an academy full of children. SO it looks like the First Order changed up some of the rules. There was SO much hype for Phasma. She’s the first obviously female storm trooper as well; i hope they do something good with her.

Han and Chewbacca – We’ll come back to them. ❤

Leia – First off, it does sound a bit like Carrie Fisher has a smoking problem. BUT, she/Leia also always had a deeper voice, for a girl, which made me feel a lot better about myself as a kid. I appreciated that she could still “sense” when…certain things i haven’t covered yet, happened. I don’t like the fact that she and Han are separated; it makes sense, but i don’t like it. The whole movie, i see so many changes to Han’s character, but the one thing that stays the same is he tries to run away from his problems, leaving Leia because of their son, leaving the Resistance to go back to smuggling, etc. I guess they had to keep some similarities, but why just the not-so-great ones?

Storm Trooper FN- 2187 aka Finn – First of all i’m just going to say i’ve always been a fan of turning designations into names; perhaps its the Star Trek/Borg love in me. Finn is an interesting yet wildly emotional character. I’m not sure how i feel about him yet, and somehow i feel like there’s a lot more going on with him than meets the eye. What did he need Po the pilot for, besides the fact that he couldn’t fly? There was millions of TIE pilots on that planet; i mean it was brilliant that he used someone who already wanted to leave, but I don’t think his desire is just to “get away; anywhere”, even if he did try to hitch a ride to the Outer Rim. We will see. 😉

Returning to Han and Chewbacca.

First off, I just need to tell you that the character of Han Solo was undoubtedly my best friend growing up. From 2004-2008, i was completely obsessed. He was my first celebrity crush, and the leader of all my imaginary childhood adventures. He was confident, a bit crazy and able to get himself out of anything, no matter what the odds were.
In episode VII, he has left the Resistance, and Leia, and has gone back to being a smuggler, the only thing he was good at.
Rey and Finn convince him to come back with them to deliver BB-8, similarly to how Luke and Ben convince him originally to take R2-D2 to Alderaan in Episode IV, and that’s how he ends up back in the game. Alot of the backstory you find out, tho, is that Kylo Ren is their son, Ben Solo. (Which threw me a little because i expected it to be one of the twins, which really does let you know how far forward we really are in the story; that the twins are supposed to exist but you don’t see them…you’ve come this far tho, JJ Abrams…no going back to fix it now)

I personally did enjoy seeing the evolution of Han’s character from “Ancient weapons and hokey religions” to “It’s real, all of it.” Its what happens when you grow up, and previously the only ones dealing with it were the Skywalker family. Now it’s Han’s family too.

The way he died. First of all, i want to say the entire theater saw it coming, and didn’t want to believe it; you could feel it. Second of all, as soon as he and Chewie split up to lay the charges, i almost leaned over to Marth and whispered “I have a bad feeling about this”, because i truly did.
From a Han Solo character standpoint, this death wasn’t the way you’d expect. But, from a developmental point…I see alot of sense in it. The whole movie was alot of similarities but also a lot of changes to Han’s character and i think that death really set it in stone. The “better her than me” attitude was gone, and he died because he was taking the last chance he could to bring his son back, one of the few times in his life he gambled and he lost. Because he doesn’t take chances like that. But it was for his son and for his wife, and he definitely did the absolute best he could. No pride, no defensiveness, just the absolute best he could, which is a part of Han you didn’t see all that much, because he never entered a fight he couldn’t win.

All this said, from that point in the movie on, i cried. I just couldn’t handle it. I had done some homework; i knew it was supposed to happen in Episode VI, and they would probably pick it back up now…but i still cried, so much.

Other Assorted TidBits – Tho you could definitely tell it was Disney by this, there were so many easter eggs that i was absolutely thrilled with! From the training droid and the chess set in the Millennium Falcon, to the fallen Star Destroyer and AT-AT walkers on Jakku, I was absolutely stoked by how awesome that was. 🙂 All the sounds, all the creatures, it was so cool and brought back alot of memories. 🙂
It was also a little dark for Star Wars for me, and maybe i’m still stuck in the 70s and 80s when the original movies came out and they had to be classier, but some of it was just a little dark; Rey’s flashbacks and such…as a result, its right up there with Episode III as not something i’ll probably be allowing my kids to see at the same age as they see the other ones. The violence was very “Clone-Wars” style as well; alot of CGI. Not that that’s necessarily a bad thing, but it just tripped me out a little, because its not what you expect from that part of the star wars timeline, from the previous movies.
I did appreciate, very much, however, the salute to the originals with the simple circle and side-swipe transitions!! That made me really happy 🙂

All in all, i think i’d have to give the movie a 9/10. It wasn’t my “favorite” star wars movie, by a long shot, but ya know, i’m sure it was a challenge that could have been way BADLY done, and this really wasn’t at all 🙂 Regardless of the actors, directors, etc and my personal feelings for them, (good or bad) there’s something to be said for a story that can spark emotion, mainly thru nostalgia, whether its a commercial or a blockbuster.

It was worth going to see, for sure, and it was awesome in 3D!

BONUS – Character I’m most excited to see the return for? Boba Fett. 🙂 It does happen…I’m sure of it. Don’t disappoint me, Abrams.

I am SO pumped right now!! This is one of my most favorite shows in the entire universe and it has helped me so much, writing-wise! It’s got your mythology/magic/supernatural aspect, your drama, your character-building, the dependence of each episode on the others, your unique creatures, and (my personal favorite which is so difficult to find!) your science, well-explained in duplicatable ways! I own all five seasons and i haven’t actually sat and watched the whole series in over a year, but i am now! Writers block has hit a bit and i need refreshed inspiration 🙂 I’m so excited!

This has been a rough past couple days for me. My paycheck was less than i needed on thursday, and i worked all day yesterday. When i left at 6:30 to go to the grocery store, while at the checkout after shopping for an hour, realized that i had bounced a check. (but it wasn’t entirely my fault; it was a long weird story) Basically, I spent much of yesterday evening curled up in a ball on my living room floor crying my eyes out, because i was so stressed.
Thankfully this morning it was a much quicker fix than i anticipated, i have a job interview in 2 hours and then i go to work at 1:30 until 9:15ish, give or take 20 minutes on either side.
If anyone tries to tell you that being an adult doesn’t suck, all around, it does. “Anyone who says differently is selling something.”

It’s nothing like you expect. There’s way more to remember, way more to do, but none of it is truly “hard”, in the sense of the word. It’s just the grind, just the actual “get-up-and-go” to do stuff, like registering a car, changing a license, having all the right information, having self-control over spending and financial organization to make sure you don’t bounce checks, etc. Its rough sometimes, and the perks like living on your own, having cable, and getting to do “whatever you want” (which basically means watching tv and eating rocks, because you’re broke) are merely a sad attempt to make it all worth it.

“You always wanted to be an adult. And now you realize it’s more than eating ice cream out of the box and not having a bedtime.” – My Dad.

Don’t get me wrong, kids. Life is great. But it’s anything but easy, and you need all the good times you can get to get thru all the inevitable bad ones. If they haven’t found you yet, they will. So hold onto the good, the promises, the little things. And we’ll make it someday. 🙂

(this basically was an interview done with Harrison Ford about some of Donald Trump’s comments about his 1997 film, Air Force One.
DT actually complimented Ford on the movie, and said he liked him because he “stood up for America”.
Harrison doesn’t take the compliment tho, and insists that it was “Just a movie. It’s not like that in real life. But how would you know?”)

I do believe this was probably a subtle stab at Trump, but not necessarily the way the media is interpreting it. It wasn’t so much about “you’re an idiot, DT.” I interpreted it as a little bit more like “Is a president in a movie really what you are inspired by? With all the real people and presidents in the world who “stood up for America”, you’re choosing me?”
Because it wasn’t real life. Ford had never been a president, and he never actually fought terrorists. So if Trump’s going into this election thinking that he can emulate, not even Harrison Ford, but Ford’s character in a movie! …Ford just warned him that being president isn’t anything like his character in his movie. But he wouldn’t know. DT isn’t president yet, and Ford was smart enough to know that playing one in a movie didn’t make him one either.

….Humans. XD they supply an endless stock of comments, opinions, humor and enrage…all to the enjoyment of other humans. ^_^